Newbie wanting to be debt free!!

suki43

Hi Deanschild,

I think you need to split your list of expenses for the month into essential and non essential items. Once you have worked out your essentials, you will have a better idea of how much money you have to play with - firstly, to pay off debt, and lastly to treat yourself. You could even download Cds for less, and I think DVDs are a luxury item. Again, when you pick something up, say to yourself do I need it or do I want it, or could I rent it?! :-)

I have to do this myself.

Suki

deanchilds1

Revenge of the Red Devil

Whats mystery shopping?

I wont be able to spend money on things i dont need from now on as i wont have any to spend! Got the car kit cos i want to stop using the phone whilst at the wheel.

LookingAhead

Just wanted to say I'm really sorry you did get made redundant in the end.

I hope something else comes up very soon.

Chihiro_2

You've had some really good advice so far, Dean, and it looks like your on the right path. It can't be easy to lay it all out for total strangers to come along and tell you you've got to stop spending money on things you want to! I'm sure if I laid my situation out on here I'd get a few (constructive) criticisms of what I buy when I've got debts to pay! Here's my 2p-worth on your DVD habit...

Last summer I started trying to move my debts to lower interest cards/loans but was refused (which I found hard to believe because my credit report is clean, with the only amber lights being on a mobile phone account when I missed the montly payment by a couple of days, which I closed in 2001, my credit score was also really high). I approached my bank for a low-rate loan and was also refused. A wonderful woman took me through my spending, and told me, no holds barred, that I spent far too much money on DVDs and suchlike, and that it would have to stop.

A few months later, I went into the bank to pay in a cheque and the cashier asked if I was interested in taking out a loan to clear my overdraft, I spoke to a financial adviser there and found I wasn't eligible to apply at that point, but the adviser said they would keep an eye on my account and contact me if that changed. Last month, he rang me and I was approved for the loan amount I needed.

I used to buy 2-3 DVDs a week at least. I can list every DVD I bought since I was told to stop buying them so often (though I won't because some of them are really crap films that I just love and it would be embarrassing, suffice to say it was a total of 4 titles, three of which were ordered from Amazon.com, 2 being TV series and cost less than they would have on the UK high street INCLUDING postage!). So far this year I have spent £18.99 on four DVDs, which would have been a minimum weekly spend for me before. If I can break this habit (and my DVD collection will soon break the shelves it's kept on, despite me selling several on eBay), then anyone can!

I'm not saying stop buying DVDs altogether, but you have to get the habit under control.

The best advice I can give you is this: read up online and know what's due out on DVD. Browsing the sales is a bad idea, 3 for/ 5 for type offers are bad - you will only end up buying things you don't really want thinking you are making a saving when you aren't.

If there's a title you want, check dvdpricesearch.co.uk which will tell you where you can find it cheapest online. If you can play Region 1, these can often be cheaper (and better value) than Region 2 - check dvdcompare.net to see which discs have the best extras. If you're at the shops, make sure you find out which retailer is cheapest before making a purchase. And always, ALWAYS do the following: before you make the purchase, put it back and walk away. Go back another day if you really want it. If shopping online, by all means go to the checkout, but before you finalise the transaction, close the browser window and shut down your internet. Go back online another day and buy it if you still want it that much. I found this works wonders for spending on non-essential items.

And finally, good luck!

deanchilds1

Chihiro

Thanks for that advice!! I have been doing things very similar to what you have advised. Ive only brought about maybe 5 dvds this year, ill list them for a laugh, Cinderella 3, get rich or die tryin, ClicK, Jungle book 2, and maybe one or 2 others. There are a few coming out soon that i want to buy as they are disney ones which only get released for a few months at a time and then taken away again, Fox and the hound 2 disc, fox and the hound 2, peter pan platinum edition and return to neverland and also the Lord of the rings triolgy special editions. Other then those i have cut out just buying for the sake of it!

deanchilds1

LookingAhead

Thanks! Hopefully it wont be for long.

Revenge_of_the_Red_Devil

deanchilds1 wrote:

Revenge of the Red Devil

Whats mystery shopping?

Mystery shopping - RetailEyes/Gapbuster,

they pay you to go to a shop and make a purchase - then they pay you a fee and refund your purchase in return for you writing a report.

deanchilds1

Sounds gd, but whats the money like?

Revenge_of_the_Red_Devil

Not great, but not too bad. Ive only done two so far: one with Woolworths and one with Krispy Kremes.

I'm not allowed to say what I had to do/etc, but its pretty self explanatory - in ach case I had about £10 to spend (refunded) and a £5 fee.

Its not bad to do, esp if you need something from a particular shop anyway...

The reports take about half an hour to do, including scanning the reciept and all that.

deanchilds1

Red Devil, Now i know why you said it was ok to spend £9 on donuts! Krispy Kreme....... MMMMM!! Not really sure if i could be a mystery shopper, what do you have to do?